"How can it hurt worse today?" I buried my face in Jacob's shoulder and gritted my teeth as the carriage to the station bumped along. "Shoot me, please."

He kissed my forehead. "We'll get you something for the pain."

"Opium or mercury or some other quack medicine?" I shook my head. "No, thank you. Nothing's broken. I'll just gut it out."

"I can't stand to see you like this." He kissed my forehead again as he laced our fingers together.

I looked up at him and grinned. "Then put me out of my misery?"

He grinned back at me. "No chance. You're stuck with me, darling."

"It's been a while since you called me that." I sighed contentedly and closed my eyes. "Feels good."

He shifted so he could put his arm around me. "It does, doesn't it?"

We sat in comfortable silence until we reached Charing Station, his arm draped across my shoulder while I dozed on the relatively short trip. Knowing Bertha's schedule, we arrived just as she pulled into the station.

"You're late," Evie snapped as soon as we were aboard. "Starrick is making his move. The piece of Eden is somewhere inside Buckingham Palace."

Too tired to deal with their bickering, I gave Henry a quick nod and headed to Evie's car.

"Let him have it," I heard Jacob say then turned to follow me.

"I've seen your handiwork across the city," she replied condescendingly. "Perhaps you should trust my judgment."

He wheeled on her, his retort just as snide. "I've been killing Starrick's henchmen. What have you been doing? Let's ask Henry, shall we?"

"I have been repairing your mistakes." She started closing the distance between them "'Too much haste is too little speed.'"

"Don't you quote Father to me," he snarled, stepping up to her.

"That's Plato. And I am sorry this doesn't involve anything you can destroy." He wouldn't meet her eyes, she raised her voice. "Father was right. He never approved of your methods."

"Father is dead!" He yelled.

"Enough!" The always patience Henry yelled. "I have just received word from my spies. At the palace ball tonight, Starrick plans to steal the piece of Eden and then eliminate all the heads of church and state."

Jacob listened over his shoulder to Henry before giving a slight nod and meeting Evie's steely gaze again. "Once more for all time's sake?"

She narrowed her eyes and replied in a vicious whisper, "And then we're finished."

"Agreed. So what's the plan?"

I quietly slipped into Evie's car so they could begin their strategizing. The end had come at last. I was about to lose my beloved Frye twins. I wouldn't split my loyalties between them and I wouldn't choose sides. I decided it was better that we all go our separate ways, but still shed tears for the loss. The world I'd come to know – the one I'd come to love – was gone.

I wiped my eyes when I heard the door open and rolled over so my back was to it. The bed sunk as the weight of a second body was applied to the edge.

"I need to go," he said softly. "Will you be all right?"

I nodded. "Yes."

"Gwen," he began, but the words were still a struggle. He didn't get angry, though. Instead, he took a deep breath and waited. Finally, he continued, "It really is better this way."

I rolled my eyes. "For who? You and Evie? The Creed? Cause from where I'm standing you're just hurting us all."

"This isn't about–" He sighed as he placed his hand on my hip. "The words can't be taken back."

"But they can be forgiven." I didn't turn around as I rested my hand over his bracer. "Please just think about it."

"I promise." As he started to leave, he added, "Just don't expect anything to change."

I closed my eyes and listened to the sound of his footsteps, praying he was wrong.

When I opened my eyes again it was already dark. Safely tucked in, I almost forgot the danger the Fryes were in. Hoping I wasn't too late, I hurried to Jacob's car only to find Henry alone at the desk reviewing the notebook Evie took from Lucy Thorne.

"She reminded me of Jacob so much when she found that," I said before he noticed me.

He nodded. "She could barely restrain herself in Kenway Mansion."

"'Miss Frye, your passion is inspiring,'" I recited as I rested my hand on his shoulder. "Isn't that what you told her when y'all first met? Y'all make a good team, Henry. Always have, always will."

"It seems we both fell under the spell of the Frye twins." He looked up at me with a smile, which faded into shock. "Gwen, what has happened?"

"Brawling like I know what I'm doing." I shrugged. "Guess they left already."

He nodded again as he turned back to the notebook. "They did. I considered going as well, but my skills in the field are lacking."

"Yeah. Mine too apparently." I reached around him to brush my fingers along the journal as he closed it. "I hope they're all right."

"Working together, the Fryes are a formidable force. Separate…" He trailed off.

"I know." Catching my fingernail on a fray on the cover, I tugged it loose and ripped a chunk of it. "Dammit. I'm sorry, Henry. I didn't mean to tear it."

"A moment, Gwen." He carefully lifted the torn section to reveal a slip of paper folded in quarters no bigger than a thumb. Carefully unfolding it, his eyes widened. "This is a map to the vault."

"You're joking." I studied it as well, realizing he was right. The vault was clearly labeled with a route through the sewers via a bolt hole in Westminster. "Son of a bitch. We've had it the whole time and didn't even know it."

"If we leave now, we can reach the vault before Starrick." He quickly gathered his weapons and a lantern. Once prepared, he turned to me. "Aren't you coming?"

"But –" I started to argue that I'd be no use to them but stopped. "Fuck it. Gimme a knife."

The sewers were a rat-infested nightmare I won't bother forcing anyone else to endure even in their imagination. However, we made very good time through them and soon could see what looked like the remains of a long-abandoned cathedral. Fallen stone and debris narrowed our path as we neared the end of the map's directions, causing us to travel in single file when we saw a light ahead of us. Opening up slightly, I could see a broken alter in front of Henry and knew we'd made it.

"Get. Out. Of. My. City."

The voice made Henry bolt through the opening and draw his long dagger. Hanging back, I watched him plunge it into the shoulder of a tall man who was holding Jacob and Evie off the ground by their throats.

"Jesus!" I muttered when the man, who had a golden cloth draped across his shoulders, threw Evie several yards away before reaching up and pulling the knife free. He then tossed Jacob in the other direction before turning on Henry.

As he led with a punch, the man – who I only then realized was the infamous Crawford Starrick – caught his arm and slammed him forward into the altar. Henry caught himself and wheeled on Starrick only to be knocked back with a backhand. He swung again and was blocked, but Starrick opened his stance and exposed himself so Henry could use his bracer blade to slash his midsection.

However, much to all our shock, what should've been a mortal wound bled for only a second. Distracted by the awesome power of the Shroud, Henry lost focus and was backhanded again before Starrick lifted him and tossed him aside as well.

I reach for my blade, ready to strike out at him when Jacob attacked Starrick again. Only a few seconds behind him, Evie took up the assault when Starrick managed to shove Jacob aside. Her blows came in rapid secession, knocking Starrick back against the altar.

"Jacob," she called before Starrick could right himself.

Jacob nailed him hard in the face and again in the chest, spraying blood across the room. Pinning Starrick to the altar, he yelled, "Evie, now."

Using her cane, she flipped the Shroud over his shoulders onto the alter then, in unison, they sent him head over heels to the other side. Laying on the ground, now weak and bleeding, he made one final attempt to rise as they came around the altar to stand in front of him.

"Shall we?" Evie asked, a hint of the tell-tale Frye smirk on her face.

Jacob grinned. "Let's."

Evie sent a kick to Starrick's chest before both of them drove their blades through his chest.

"Together," she shouted, slashing his throat with such force it spun him all the way around to face Jacob so he could do the same. Catching his falling body, Jacob gently laid him on the ground before them.

While they stood silently over him, I rushed over to Henry to check on his wounds. He looked relatively unscathed considering what he'd been through and, though he'd been knocked out, I had a feeling he would be okay.

"Shame we won't be partners anymore," Jacob said to Evie, clearly not noticing our presence yet.

"It's for the best, isn't it?" She asked, but her tone was unsure.

"Are you going to wear the Shroud and run London?" He asked.

"Whatever it gives, it takes from someone else. You' continue to age without me. You'd become like Father."

He smiled. "A fate worse than death."

"Will you wear it?"

"After you sorted out the boroughs? The chaos I caused?" He shook his head. "I couldn't compete."

"Jacob Frye stepping down," she teased. "Who's blackmailing you? Is it George?"

"He wouldn't dare." He sighed. "I've missed you."

Evie nodded slightly. "Me too. Would it be possible to continue where we left off?"

"I'd love nothing more."

I smiled, happy they'd made amends, just as Henry began to stir. Deciding to let the real assassins have the moment they earned, I crept back into the tunnel and started the trek back to the train.

Their mission was over. London was free. As I kicked at a rat, I realized it was time my mission began. I had to figure out how to destroy the Wheel of Time.

And this time, it was my mission and I intended to do it myself. Even if it meant doing it alone.